FIBT Acquires Dominion Bank, Creating $7 Billion Banking Powerhouse

WATFORD CITY, N.D. & DALLAS – November 10, 2026 – The consolidation of America's community banking sector took another significant geographic leap today as First International Bank & Trust (FIBT) announced a definitive agreement to acquire Dallas-based Dominion Bank. The transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, will push the Upper Midwest institution's total assets to approximately $7.0 billion and expand its footprint into the highly competitive Texas market.

Under the terms of the agreement, the $650 million-asset Dominion Bank will fully integrate and rebrand under the First International Bank & Trust name. The combined entity will boast 31 branch locations spanning five states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Arizona, and Texas. While the financial terms and valuation multiples of the privately negotiated deal remain undisclosed, the strategic implications for both institutions—and the broader regional banking landscape—are profound.

Northern Capital Meets the Texas Boom

For FIBT, an institution founded in 1910 and owned by the Stenehjem family through Watford City Bancshares, Inc., the acquisition represents a calculated thrust into one of the nation's fastest-growing economic corridors. The move aligns with a growing industry trend of Midwestern and Northern community banks seeking geographic diversification in booming Southern markets to offset slower organic growth in their legacy footprints.

Dominion Bank provides FIBT with an immediate, mature beachhead in Texas. Dominion currently operates three branches, including two in the lucrative Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and one in Grapeland. The Texas bank's current iteration is itself the product of strategic maneuvering; in 2019, a group led by Thomas J. Mastor acquired Grapeland State Bank, rebranded it as Dominion Bank, and aggressively expanded its operations into the Dallas-Fort Worth market.

"This is a landmark moment for FIBT and one of the most exciting opportunities in our company's history," said Peter Stenehjem, CEO of FIBT. "For more than 100 years, our growth has been guided by a simple principle: create new opportunities for customers, employees and communities while staying true to who we are. Dominion shares that belief. Together, we are creating a stronger organization with expanded capabilities, greater opportunities for our employees and customers, and an even brighter future for the communities we serve. Expanding into Texas marks an exciting new chapter for FIBT and positions us to build on more than a century of success as we continue growing for generations to come."

The $7 Billion Play: Scale and the Tech Imperative

Beyond geographic expansion, the merger highlights the intense pressure on privately held and community banks to achieve scale. In today's financial ecosystem, institutions are increasingly forced to grow their asset bases to absorb rising regulatory compliance costs, expand commercial lending limits, and, crucially, fund the digital transformation required to compete with national megabanks and agile fintech startups.

By crossing the $7 billion asset threshold, FIBT is positioning itself in a formidable middle tier of regional banking. This scale is particularly vital for supporting the bank's ambitious technology and payments initiatives. A central component of FIBT's growth strategy is Kotapay, its specialized payments division. Kotapay has quietly become a powerhouse in ACH processing, credit card merchant services, and embedded payments, processing over $124 billion in payments in 2025 alone and serving more than 107,000 clients nationwide.

The integration of Dominion Bank will allow FIBT to introduce Kotapay's advanced treasury management and payment solutions to a fresh, dynamic commercial client base in Texas. Furthermore, FIBT has been actively streamlining its operations to focus on these core banking and payment technologies. In March 2025, the bank strategically divested its Wealth Services Division to Wealth Enhancement, a move that industry observers noted was designed to free up capital and leadership bandwidth for core banking expansion and technological investments like its next-generation Banking-as-a-Service platform, Kavinu.

For Dominion, the merger solves the inherent limitations of a sub-$1 billion community bank. "FIBT’s history, family ownership and long-term approach stood out to us," said Thomas J. Mastor, President, CEO and Chairman of Dominion Bank. "Joining First International Bank & Trust allows us to build on Dominion’s strengths, expand the resources available to our customers and preserve the local expertise, responsiveness, and personal relationships they value. By joining FIBT, our bankers will have greater capacity to support customers' ambitions through larger lending opportunities, expanded financial solutions and enhanced capabilities, while maintaining the local relationships and personalized service that define Dominion Bank."

Navigating Regulatory Waters and Market Concentration

The extended timeline for the deal's closure—projected for the first quarter of 2027—reflects the increasingly rigorous regulatory environment surrounding bank mergers. Transactions of this size require comprehensive reviews by federal regulators, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve, as well as state banking authorities.

Regulators will scrutinize the merger's impact on financial stability, community reinvestment, and market competition. However, because FIBT is making its initial entry into Texas, there is no geographic overlap between the two institutions. This lack of redundancy means the merger will not trigger antitrust concerns or significantly alter the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for market concentration in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. While the competitive dynamics in the smaller Grapeland market will be reviewed, the overall lack of overlapping branch networks typically smooths the path to regulatory approval.

During the transition period, both banks will continue to operate as separate, independently managed institutions. Customers have been assured that their existing banking offices, relationship managers, and service channels will remain uninterrupted. Advisors for the transaction include Stephens Inc. and Fenimore Kay Harrison LLP for Dominion Bank, and Ballard Spahr LLP serving as legal counsel for FIBT.

Preserving the Community Model in an Era of Consolidation

Perhaps the most compelling narrative of this acquisition is the attempt to scale a community banking model across five non-contiguous states without losing the localized touch that defines the sector. Mergers often result in significant back-office redundancies and branch closures, but FIBT and Dominion are emphasizing continuity.

In a strong signal to the Texas market, all Dominion employees are expected to be offered positions with FIBT following the completion of the transaction. Furthermore, local leadership will be preserved at the highest levels. Upon closing, Mastor will transition to the role of Executive Vice President Texas President for FIBT and will also take a seat on FIBT's Board of Directors. This structural decision ensures that Texas-specific market knowledge and established client relationships remain central to the bank's regional strategy.

The transaction brings together two privately held institutions with a shared philosophy of responsible growth and long-term relationship building. As the banking industry continues to barbell—with assets concentrating in trillion-dollar national banks on one end and hyper-local micro-banks on the other—the FIBT-Dominion merger represents a strategic middle path. By combining the personalized service of a century-old, family-owned community bank with the lending capacity and technological infrastructure of a $7 billion regional player, FIBT is betting that it can successfully export its Upper Midwest banking model to the heart of Texas.